I'll get straight to it. Regrettably, my documentary, Alien Encounters: Superior Fan Power Since 1979 has not been included in the upcoming Alien Anthology Blu Ray box set.
I should note here that the film was rejected before it was actually sent for inclusion. When the producer did see the film his feedback was very positive and he enjoyed the film. There were other rejections, too, including some material made by well known film makers that will surely be of a very high standard. Another disc was apparently considered but every industry is cutting back as we all know. Online streaming is the future so hopefully we may see additional content added utilising BD Live.
BD Live (BD = Blu Ray Disc) is a Blu Ray feature that lets you access extra content with a WIFI or Ethernet equipped BD player (or PS3).
I must point out that any extra content is purely speculation at this point and may never happen. So lets just keep our fingers crossed that the documentary may still appear as one of the BD Live special features.
I was hoping to know before the box set and its contents were announced but as it stands I won't know if this will be possible until well after the Anthology has been released as Fox will be exhausting themselves with its promotion, etc.
The producer of the box set is a fantastic guy and if we have a chance of being included with the Anthology BD Live features it will be all thanks to him and his efforts for promoting us to Fox.
So when I do know something I will post here.
When I was informed the doc wouldn't make the set the main reason given was that Fox had problems with the unlicensed product that appears – costumes, guns, props, etc. All of this is essentially 'bootleg' but since Fox or its associates don't make or sell armour and PR's anyway I think it's something that can be resolved. Even now, there are no licensed USCM gear or PR's currently available (although I did shoot footage of the HCG PR).
Of course, it would be impossible to illustrate a colourful fan community if I had to exclude props and costumes. I didn't want to make a film with fans talking solely about their thoughts on the films and how it affected them. I wanted to show people living the life style and how amazing events like the DCon march, the Alien Encounter and the Gold Awards actually brought people together. Moreover, how these events brought the fans and the cast and crew together. Because all that is quite special and highly unusual.
I would like to thank everybody that appeared or helped out for all their efforts. Special mention must go to Gareth, Darren and Peter Cooper for lending me their cameras when I had none of my own or no means to hire one. Also to Gareth for getting footage of Michael Biehn last year at DCon when I couldn't go. To Dom and Bazfish for securing Mr Biehns appearance form. Harry for helping out with the mountains of appearance forms and getting one of his bands to give us music to use, well done to you (though why you couldn't get Phil Collins I'll never know). My bro Russ for photos, music and sneaking us in to the green screen studio! Claus who spent three months working on audio in Berlin -- great work, fella.
To Trevor Steedman for presenting; Data, Rich, Glenn, PVB, Woody, Harry, Gareth, Simon and Darren for being Aliens and marines in the LV-427* footage (*Trevor Steedman, lol); Harry for lighting when we shot all that; Everybody at DCon 2009 - the UACM, the USCM, the French contingent, the UKCM, -- everybody; Spat and Tony in NYC; All cast & crew that were filmed; Rustiswordz, Space Jockey, Jan Rukr, Markus and all the artists that contributed; all UKCM members that were interviewed green screen and many more that I'm no doubt forgetting (but are all included in the end credits). My greatest thanks and appreciation to you all.
So just to prove the doc does exist and to give you a feel of the format, here is a link to the first ten minutes.
it is from an older, ungraded (colour corrected) cut but pretty much true to the final:
http://vimeo.com/13430302
The doc also features the following:
Spat, maker of Aliens marine armour
Alien costumes & PR's
Dressing Trevor Steedman in armour and the Bug Hunt at the National Space Centre
Alien War & The Alien Encounter
The Aliens Legacy Gold Awards with Mike Rush and interviews with cast and crew members
Re-uniting Trevor Steedman & Cynthia Scott after 25 years
Simon Smiths prop making
Data's hand made PR
Fan films
How to make a CG Alien(3)
Dragon Con & the tribute march in Atlanta for original Colonial Marine Chris Chulmanis
Abe T Alien magazine shoot
30th anniversary of Alien at Wonderfest with Veronica Cartwright
Rich & Steve's Environmental suit from Alien
Future Alien movies
That's a brief rundown of some of the things featured.
Regardless of the Anthology, I am sure I can get this doc on TV. In light of the forthcoming Alien prequels, media outlets will be crying out for Alien content for the next three years at least. When you consider the build up and rumours to the movies' actual release and then to the DVD releases after, etc, you realise that Alien will have a high profile in the movie media for quite some time.
When the new films are released, networks will re-run all the old movies and the usual documentaries. My doc is new with a fresh slant and all these factors should conspire to get this seen. I spent a year in post making this. I took six months off at great financial loss to make it happen and I didn't make it to just put it on a DVD for friends, so rest assured I will work tirelessly to get this out there. If it does appear as an Anthology extra on the BD Live feature then that would be enough. But I think it has legs and so do some industry friends of mine so let's see what happens.
Film festivals are coming up and I will show it there. Copyright permissions will have to be discussed with Fox (usage of their film clips and soundtracks, etc) and that's what I need to get on to next.
The doc is 74 minutes long but I do have a longer, two hour cut that will be made available to board members that will feature absolutely everybody filmed, as a bit of a souvenir. However, that will have to be held back until everything else is sorted out, which probably means it won't be available until late next year.
In the meantime, feel free to ask any questions and I hope you enjoy the glance from the ten minute intro (sorry it doesn't feature more of you from the US and Canada but rest assured you're featured prominently in other parts of the film). This forum is the best online community and I am proud to be a part of it.
One more thing: It's been emotional.
ADC
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, so I'll get some of that up there. It's all good stuff. 